Hana Financial profit falls short of expectations

KangaKong

SEOUL -(MarketWatch)- South Korea's Hana Financial Group (086790.SE) reported Friday a weaker-than-expected third-quarter net profit as a result of an increase in administrative expenditure.

The quarter-on-quarter comparison suffered also because of gains booked in the second quarter from the sale of the company's stake in Hyundai Engineering & Construction (000720.SE).

Net profit for the quarter ended Sept. 30 fell to KRW205.3 billion ($178.9 million) from KRW489.8 billion in the previous quarter, Hana Financial, the nation's fourth-largest financial holding firm by assets, said in a filing to the Korea Exchange.

The earnings were weaker than a KRW232.9 billion forecast by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

"Despite solid operational profitability, our third-quarter earnings fell from the second quarter when (we booked gains) from sale of a stake in Hyundai Engineering & Construction, due (partly) to spending on early retirement," the group said in a separate statement.

Net profit of Hana Bank, the flagship unit of the group, was KRW179.6 billion, down from KRW476.9 billion from the second quarter.

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